I’ve been a journalist for more than 20 years writing about business one way or another. Everything I‘ve learned in all this time can be boiled down to one truth: finance, transportation, marketing, supply chain - no matter what the original subject is all roads lead back to sales.

Amazon Goes Nuclear On Same Day Delivery With Drone Service

Just when you thought the e-commerce versus brick-and-mortar retailing wars couldn’t get any more competitive, there’s Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on 60 Minutes explaining his next big thing: he plans to use autonomous drone aircraft to fulfill small orders of five pounds for not just same day delivery—but 30 minutes or less delivery.

The service will be called Prime Air and Bezos hopes to see it in place within five years.

The technology is here Amazon says in a FAQ on the service. It says it will be ready to start commercial operations as soon as the Federal Aviation Administration, which is working on rules for unmanned aerial vehicles, finalizes the necessary regulations.

Given that the government only now just got around to okaying the use of cell phones during flights, it is hard to imagine that regulations for commercial drones will be in place any time soon.

But let’s put that aside because in a way it doesn’t matter.

Brick-and-mortar retailers have been pushing back against the inroads e-commerce retailers have made in the last decade with a range of measures from their own digital initiatives to redesigning shopping centers to become destination centers – buzzspeak for making the mall as sticky as possible by providing new dinning options, entertainment venues and new types of tenants like community colleges or medical facilities.

But their greatest advantage has been their convenience–people can jump in the car and drive to the mall and get that sweater or T-shirt right then and there–and try it on to boot.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

Comments

Really wild. Lots of legal and practical issues, but this could revolutionize delivery systems.

Its amazing how far quadcopter/multirotor technology has come. You can get a very capable $40 quadcopter now, or a $1,200 with streaming HD video and GPS capabilities. Check out the best quadcopter models here: http://bit.ly/1beclDj

I would rather my items were delivered to me from below the ground within a system of tunnels and community depots, I’m sure if Amazon funded it they could lease the tunnels to other providers. I’m not to keen on seeing flying monkeys delivering things across my neighborhood especially living in Central London.